


Why Can’t Everything Be Black & White

by The_Impavid



Series: Shenanigans [7]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Bad Parenting, Comic Book Science, Flash Thompson Needs a Hug, Flash Thompson Redemption, Fuck science, Genius Peter Parker, Intern Peter Parker, Original Character(s), Peter Parker Defense Squad, Peter Parker is a Good Bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 23:58:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21188156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Impavid/pseuds/The_Impavid
Summary: Peter gets a lesson that not everything is the way it seems.





	Why Can’t Everything Be Black & White

A couple of weeks pass by easily and the school slowly comes to accept that one (1) Peter Parker is actually an honest, genius intern and has not been lying for attention. Students and teachers alike finally accept that Peter is still the same Peter and he is not going to change just because he is more popular now. Peter’s grateful for people realising because that means random people in the hallway will stop schmoozing up to him and his two close friends. Yes, MJ counts as a close friend now. He thinks it’s required after she scared off a cheerleader ready to stick her tongue down his throat in front of some cameras on the way to school.

  
Since that incident, MJ & Ned decided to become the Peter Parker Defence Squad and protect Spiderling from all the crazy people. Or in Ned’s case, take whatever bribing they have and leave Peter out of it. And man does Sarah Flores make good brownies. In the mornings, their usual routine is MJ picking Peter up at his apartment then they take the train together and they meet up with Ned in the parking lot. It’s a nice system.

  
On this day particularly, just as the trio all meet up, an SUV swings into the nearly empty parking lot and skids to a stop. “Whoa!” Peter & Ned exclaim as MJ just squints her eyes at the scene. Shit is about to go down.

  
“That’s Flash’s car,” Ned points out.

  
A woman’s yelling voice is muffled in the car, but with his enhanced hearing, Peter makes out words about “leaving your jacket on the couch” before the passenger door opens.

  
“- HOME TOO! AM I ONLY SUPPOSED TO STAY IN MY ROOM ALL THE TIME?” Flash yells back as he is literally shoved out of the seat. He fumbles to catch himself, but quickly straightens himself up and scrambles to keep his bag from ripping open.

  
The woman doesn’t apologise for her action and instead slams the door in his face but continues yelling through the window. Flash is the only average human to hear what she is saying and Peter is… well, Peter.

  
MJ, the only one with a brain, is quick to pull Peter & Ned behind a tall shrub in time for Flash not to see them spying. “Is that his mum?” Ned whispers and Peter gasps slightly at the implication. Oh shit.

  
He focuses back on Flash’s mum, “-BEING UNGRATEFUL!”

  
“I’M NOT UNGRATEFUL!” Flash takes a deep breath. “I just want to go to school.”

  
“So, you can get into another fight?”

  
“No. TO LEARN.”

  
“Tell that your last report card. 3.6? Honestly, your dad and I should take away your phone until you get your grades up.”

  
“I have all my notes on my phone and I have a study group.”

  
“Study group? It’s clearly not working. With those grades, you’re not going very far in life.”

  
“YOU ACT LIKE I DON'T KNOW THAT WITH YOU TELLING ME ALL THE TIME!” Even Flash looks confused at his own response.

  
There’s a slight pause before she speaks in an irritated and frustrated voice, “Just forget it.” The venom in her voice chills Peter down to his core and leaves him shivering a bit. Then there’s a loud screech as the SUV backs out fast and hauls down the street before Flash can respond.

  
Flash just stands in the seemingly empty parking lot for a minute, probably to compose himself, taking shaky, but even, breaths, and literally tries to shake off his jitters. He holds tight onto his backpack straps like they’ll ground him and his head is raised up to the sky. They watch him turn from an antsy, lost boy into the overly confident Flash Thompson they know and love to hate. He is nearly frantically looking around to make sure no one notices him whip away tears. He takes one final deep breath and begins jogging in place to get hyped up again.

  
Flash is nearly skipping into the building, acting like everything in life is perfect, and enters with a loud, “What up my people? Y’all ready for my Halloween party this weekend?” If they didn’t just see Flash get treated like trash, Peter would’ve thought Flash was bragging about having a perfect life again.

  
Still, in the parking lot, the trio comes out from behind the bushes and just a take a moment to process everything that happened. None of them has ever seen Flash look like that. It wasn’t even the way the mother was acting, but Flash just looked resigned about everything. No real heat or passion in his argument, but more like he was just playing along to his mother’s anger. Like he gave up on fighting a long time ago. If that’s true, how long has this been going on?

  
“Holy crap,” Ned mutters.

  
“Yeah…” Peter doesn’t know what else to say.

  
“You’d think his parents would baby him with how much they put up with,” MJ mentions as she thinks back to all the times Flash’s parents bailed him out on some stint of another. She frowns at how easily Flash hid this.

  
Peter hums before saying, “Let’s just keep this between us. Flash can handle himself.” They agree and they all leave to class with a bit more weight on their shoulders. And if they’re quieter than usual, nobody notices.

Flash cannot handle himself.

  
He acts as he always does in class, although today Peter doesn’t mind as Flash throwing paper balls at him as much. But Peter just knows something is off this time. By their third period, Peter is ready to repress that morning as he heads to the student lounge when he passes by the empty choir room. That room is usually empty since not a lot of students sing, whether they are too shy or just don’t sing. This time around is different.

  
Peter peeks his head through the tiny window and sees Flash in the far corner, sitting behind the piano. He is curled up into a ball, arms hugging around his knees, and his head kept down. You wouldn’t be able to tell he was there, but Peter is enhanced and all that jazz, so he knows that bitch is there.

  
He decides to take it cautiously, because he obviously can’t leave Flash crying in the corner, and he opens the door while knocking. Flash gasps as soon as he sees Peter walking in gingerly, “Fuck off Parker.” His first instinct is to attack him, but Peter just gives a small smile.

  
“No can do, Flash. You seem like you’re going through something.” He takes a hesitant seat at the piano. There’s a moment of silence, “You seem off today. What’s up?”

  
“None of your business.”

  
“Fair enough, but I don’t know,” he shrugs, “I think you should at least talk to someone.”

  
“Yeah, sure. I’ll just go see the counsellor.” Sarcasm is annoying sometimes. He deadpans a look at the idiot. “Yeah, no. We both know Counsellor Crisp is full of it and just tries to spend the hour going over your childhood.”

  
Peter sighs, “Well, it’s better than crying in the music room alone.”

  
“I’m not fucking crying.”

  
“Sure Jan.” Flash glares at Peter, but he can see a slight smile poking out.

  
There’s a pause as they sit in just over uncomfortable silence as Peter thinks about what to say and Flash wondering if he could trust his biggest enemy.

  
Flash takes a deep sigh, “Can you keep a secret?”

  
“Of course.”

  
Flash takes a moment for himself, “My mom is a dick.”

  
Peter holds in a snicker. Come on, it's a serious moment here, Parker. “Yeah?”

  
“Yeah, she is. Like I love her and everything, but she is… she’s tough.”

  
Peter is lucky enough that he was raised by loving parents then a loving aunt & uncle. He never really had to face a home life like Flash’s or even anything like MJ’s, so this is uncharted territory.

  
“Is it bad?”

  
“I don’t know. I think? I mean, she doesn’t hit me.” Peter’s signals are going off. If the best thing you can say about a parent is that they don’t hit them, well that’s not a good place to be. “She just kind of… She just – I don’t know how to explain it.”

  
“It’s alright.” Peter tries to calm him.

  
Flash snaps his head, “No, that’s the thing with her. It’s like nothing is ever alright with her. Nothing I do is up to her expectations…” He sighs and leans his head back against the wall, “It’s like why do I even try?”

  
Way to get yourself into another awkward situation where you have absolutely no business being a part of or even know how to respond. Might as well try.

  
“Because you’re a nice guy?”

  
Flash doesn’t respond.

  
Take a deep breath, “I wanna help, but I don’t know how.” Flash’s face falls a bit and Peter realises that the guy who hates his guts actually expected him to help in some way. Not even him as Spider-Man, but as Peter Parker. “I do know that you can’t just keep it in though.” Flash rolls his eyes.

  
Go big or go home, “I don’t really remember my own mum, but I remember disappointing my family, even when I thought it wasn’t rational.” Peter moves off the piano and sits against the cabinet next to Flash. “You know how my uncle died from a robbery?” Peter is surprised at how controlled his voice is and that he is not sobbing under a tuba or something. “It shouldn’t have happened, but I was being quite an asshole earlier that day, got mad, left the apartment, and my uncle went out to find me.” Peter clears his throat, just remembering. “Not the same as yours, but I think I understand how guilty and ashamed you feel.”

  
Flash just nods his head along as he talks. It makes sense in a way. Flash has a shitty mum, Peter feels like a shitty person, and they both feel somehow responsible for their situations. Deep in the pit of his stomach, Flash suddenly feels a painful twist as he realises that Peter was going through a lot and Flash probably made it not easy for him.

  
“Yeah, I think I get you.” Flash takes a deep breath. Let’s not turn out like mum. “I’m sorry for giving you a lot of shit. It’s a dick move, but it’s just that everyone likes you.”

  
“Huh?” Peter’s head snaps to him. He’s never heard that before.

  
“You don’t even notice, do you?”

  
“Notice what?”

  
Flash chuckles, “Exactly.”

  
“Man, I don’t notice a lot of things.”

  
Oh, he has no idea. “I know. It took you months to realise Jones was trying to be your guys’ friend.”

  
Peter looks up and stares blankly across from him, “That actually makes a lot of sense why she just started popping up randomly.”

  
“My God, Parker. Someone is going to ask you out one day and you’re going to show up and you’ll have no idea it’s a date.” Peter pouts because it actually sounds like something he would do and he can’t deny it.

  
“Bold of you to assume I’ll get a date.” Flash snickers and Peter grins. Maybe Flash can get a friend for once.

  
“Thanks for being here, Parker. I think I did need to talk to someone.”

  
“Yeah, no problem. I still think you should talk like an adult person. Maybe Ms Warren? She doesn’t judge.”

  
“Yeah, I think I will.”

“Okay,” Peter lifts himself off the floor, feeling lighter than when he walked in, “see you!”

  
Flash, on the other hand, is at a crossroads. Not only does he have to deal with his mum, especially since he yelled back her, late, but Peter Parker is so confusing. He wants to hate him, but Peter is just so nice and innocent. Goddamn it, Parker.


End file.
